422 They called me a liar in a courtroom packed with spectators, and my own mother made sure every person there accepted it as truth. With one hand resting on the Bible, she met the judge’s gaze and declared

"Where is the master terminal?" I demanded, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"It’s at the R&D facility," Thorne cried, his voice trembling. "Ten miles from here. We’ll never make it through the storm in eighteen minutes!"

"We don't need a car," General Carney said, pulling out his radio. "This is Carney. I need an immediate bird at our location. Extraction on the pier. Now!"

Ten minutes later, the deafening roar of a military helicopter filled the night air as a Black Hawk touched down on the concrete pier, its rotor wash whipping the rain into a frenzy.

We scrambled inside, pulling Dr. Thorne with us. As the helicopter lifted off, banking sharply over the harbor, I stared down at the city lights.

The memories of my last helicopter flight—the crash, the fire, the blood—threatened to overwhelm me. My hands began to shake.

Suddenly, General Carney reached over and placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

"You survived Kandar, Victoria," he said over the roar of the engines. "You can survive this. Your father built that company to protect our troops. Don't let Curtis tear it down."

I took a deep breath, the panic receding, replaced by a cold, sharp focus. I nodded. "I won't."

The R&D facility came into view—a modern, low-slung compound surrounded by high-security fences. As the helicopter hovered over the helipad, we didn't wait for a full landing. We jumped the last few feet, hitting the wet concrete running.

We burst through the glass lobby doors, Dr. Thorne panting behind us. The security guards, recognizing me and General Carney, immediately bypassed the alarms and ushered us into the secure server room.

The room was freezing, filled with the hum of dozens of server racks. At the center of the room was a large console. A massive red progress bar was flashing on the screen.

VANGUARD SOURCE CODE UPLOAD: 89% COMPLETE.

TIME REMAINING: 3 MINUTES, 14 SECONDS.

"I can't stop it from here!" Dr. Thorne cried, frantically typing on the keyboard. "Curtis encrypted the cancellation command with a physical key. It requires a hard-wired override from the server core itself!"

"Where is the core?" I asked.

"Beneath the floorboards," Thorne pointed to a heavy, bolted steel grate in the corner of the room. "But it's a high-voltage area. If you touch the wrong wire, the system will short-circuit and wipe everything permanently—including our only copy."

"Tell me what to pull," I said, already kneeling by the grate, pulling a multi-tool from my belt.

"Victoria, it’s too dangerous," Carney warned. "If that system surges—"

"I’ve defused IEDs in the dark, General," I said, unscrewing the bolts of the grate. "This is just a big computer."

I ripped the metal grate away, exposing a dense web of glowing fiber-optic cables and heavy power lines.

1 MINUTE, 45 SECONDS.

UPLOAD: 95%.

"Look for the blue fiber cable with the yellow tag!" Dr. Thorne shouted over my shoulder. "It should be connected to the secondary firewall. You need to sever it, but only after you ground the main power relay, or you’ll trigger a surge!"

I reached into the dark, cramped space, my fingers brushing against the hot cables. My burn scar pulled tight as I bent forward.

50 SECONDS.

UPLOAD: 98%.

"Which one is the relay?" I yelled, my forehead sweating despite the freezing room.

"The thick black cable on the left! Pull the copper lever next to it!"

I found the copper lever. It was rusted, stuck in place. I gripped it with both hands, throwing my weight into it.

30 SECONDS.

UPLOAD: 99%.

"Come on!" I roared, my muscles straining.

With a loud clack, the lever gave way. A shower of blue sparks erupted from the relay, singing my hand, but I didn't let go. I immediately grabbed my shears, located the blue fiber cable with the yellow tag, and sliced through it.

The server room went completely black.

The constant hum of the servers died instantly.

For five agonizing seconds, there was absolute silence.

Then, the emergency red backup lights flickered on.

The console screen rebooted.

I scrambled out of the crawlspace, looking up at the screen.

UPLOAD TERMINATED.

SOURCE CODE SECURED. LOCAL BACKUP INTACT.

I fell back against the server rack, letting out a long, shuddering breath.

Dr. Thorne let out a joyful laugh, clapping his hands. "You did it, Victoria! You saved it!"